Well, it’s me again. And I’ve been listening to what I am now calling…. “deep” episodes. (apologies, Album 55. I’m not talking about you specifically.)

What do I mean by that?

I mean, the ones that are clearly in over a normal kid’s head. Not your average slice-of-life episodes. But I don’t mean the action-packed, spy mystery episodes either.

I’m thinking of episodes like so:

Under the Influence

Yikes, this one escalates quickly. I mean, if you ask me. We go from “Hey, there’s a friend I haven’t seen in a while!” to “I’m illegally driving someone else’s car and getting arrested!” Poor Aubrey. It’s also a salvation episode! Those are always great.

I first heard this as part of the Novacom Saga, and I always enjoyed it as a little breath of air from the mystery. But still, it’s intense! Shows some of the extremes of peer pressure. It was kind of scary to observe the progression.

The Turning Point

Another episode that escalates relatively quickly. We go from “My crush is meeting my dad” to “I’m transferring to another college to make space between me and my almost-boyfriend.” This one is also pretty sad.

Yeah…I’ve been listening to the Eugene and Katrina storyline.

I believe I have said this in one of my WILTs, but I’m finding it interesting (and somewhat scary) how I’m able to relate to episode like these nowadays. Not in the exact same way, but in some senses. Perhaps that’s why this one hit me so hard.

The ending though. “I never want to do anything like that again for as long as I live.”

The Chosen One

When I first started listening, I was very fond of this episode and Kelly. (my first [terrible] fanfics were about her actually *cough*)

I love the tension between doing what’s right as a Christian but also setting boundaries. It’s something I think about a lot. The point where Connie is rightfully angry about her missing book (I feel her pain) but she knows she needs to forgive Kelly. And where Tamika has to come to terms with the wrong Kelly did to her.

And the tension between simply following the rules versus doing something hard that God calls us to do.

A great story!

Now More Than Ever

After not hearing it for years, this episode touched me in a new way. I was amazed at how similar Liz and Mandy’s story was to something I went through a few months before.

This one of those “sad ending” episodes. The reality of the Straussberg’s situation was not one that could be resolved in one episode, but it also taught an important lesson about prayer, and perseverance in friendship.

I really never paid much attention to this episode before, apart from it being the kickstart episode for the Straussberg story. But now it feels heavier, probably because I can relate now.

For Thine is the Kingdom

This is an episode I heard a lot some years ago, before we had the club. It was one of those random free episodes we found floating around the internet.

Anyway, I heard it again yesterday. It does go pretty deep. Talking about Courtney’s dreams and how sometimes our dreams will probably never come true. Also, Mr. Whittaker was referencing C.S. Lewis at the end with the analogy of the actors and the play, though he did not say it.

Perhaps I was just desensitized to this episode after hearing it so many times, but it is a tough story. And the wrap music is amazing…gives a whole different feel to the ending than a normal AIO episode.

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There are many more episodes that could be classified as “deep.” (someday I’ll talk about Mistaken For Good!)

That’s one thing I love about Odyssey: being able to find episodes like these, and explore their deeper meaning.

I’d also love to hear about any “deep” episodes that you’re fond of!